Happy Monday, dear friends! Today’s rip-roarin’ recipe is from Ryan Detzel, a twenty-something punk pastor from Cincinnati who has more than just a few tattoos on his arms. But he also adores his wife and sweet little daughter, Ava…and he loves to cook. Ryan’s stopping by today to show us another great way to use all the zucchini that’s taking over everyone’s garden right about now, present company included. Thanks for sharing, Ryan. We embrace all fried things here at PW Cooks. -PW

Hi, guys. Since as far back as I can remember, Zucchini Cakes have been a summer favorite with my family. They can easily be an appetizer as well as a side dish, and everyone agrees that these things rock.

As you can see, we’re starting with some pretty simple ingredients: Zucchini (in this case it’s just one big mamajama), Minced Garlic, an Italian Cheese Blend, an Egg, and some bread crumbs. The unseen ingredients are olive oil, kosher salt, and some fresh ground pepper.

To start, we’re going to chop the ends off of our Zucchini:

Next, we want to get out a cheese grater—or in this case, a Zucchini grater—and begin shredding up this big green monster.

Did you know that even though it’s always treated as a vegetable, Zucchini is actually a fruit? It is. For realz.

Okay, we should have a pretty good mound of shredded zucchini at this point.

Now comes an important step. We have to get a lot of the water out of this mess. So toss your zucchini confetti into a clean towel…and SQUEEZE!!

You should see a good bit of liquid come out of this ball-o-zucchini. This will help to create a less runny version of what we’re making.

Next, toss the semi-dry zucchini into a large enough bowl to fit the rest of our ingredients.

Mmm…garlic. I’m throwing in a good sized tablespoon of the pre-minced stuff. Don’t judge me. I’m out of the fresh stuff.

Now cover that with about 1/2 – 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs.

And now for the cheese, I’ve got this 4-Cheese Italian blend. You can use Parmesan or Romano, I’m sure. But Sam’s Club had this stuff and by golly, I’m using it. Maybe around 1/2 cup…but I suck at measuring things.

Let’s toss in that egg, too.

Now season it all up with a big pinch of kosher salt and some freshly ground pepper.

Stir it all up with a fork and see where your cards fall. And hmmm…to me, this still looks a little dry.

I think I’ll add another egg to the mix to make it a little more batter-esque.

There…that’s better. This is the consistency we’re looking for. We don’t want everything falling apart once it reaches the pan.

Speaking of that pan…let’s get some olive oil in it and heat it to medium heat. Use enough oil to cover the pan by about a quarter inch.

When the oil is nice and hot, drop in a glob of our zucchini batter and flatten it down a little with a fork or spoon or some other flattening device.

After about two minutes or so we’ll turn one of these babies over to see what we’ve got. If it’s golden-brown and delicious looking…it’s time to turn the rest.

Oh my goodness, you should smell these!

After a couple minutes on the other side these delicious little zucchini cakes will be ready to pop onto a plate:

I’m serving them up with some ranch dressing for a dipping sauce and a little crushed red pepper for style and flare. Delicious!

Oh, and remember how I said these were a family favorite? Well…I lied. This was actually the first time I’d ever made these. And they were heavenly. I had some fresh zucchini from our garden and I decided to play around with it. They turned out excellent, even though I’d never made them before.

So get creative, people. You never know—you might just end up with a winner!

Preparation Instructions

Wash and cut the end off of one large zucchini. Shred it using the large holes of a cheese grater. Squeeze the shredded zucchini inside of a clean towel until you’ve removed as much liquid as possible.

Place shredded zucchini into a medium sized bowl. Add minced garlic, breadcrumbs, cheese (shredded), eggs, kosher salt and pepper to taste. Stir with a fork until well mixed.

Heat olive oil (about ¼ inch deep in bottom of skillet) to a medium heat. When the oil is hot enough drop a glob of zucchini batter into the skillet and flatten it a bit. After about two minutes, turn the cakes over ( they should be nice golden-brown) and cook on the other side until done (about 2-3 minutes).

422 Comments

OMG! You have the best site around. I need to look no further when it comes to cooking. Yes’ you can allow room for swelling. I am so bad at baking that I just had to send your site on to other family members back home in California. I just wish they sold corn tortilas in Denmark. Keep up the good work. I love the time you share with your sister’ reminds me of what I don’t have around the corner any more.

402

Leigh Ann On Wednesday, January 7 at 12:17 pm

I would like to see the great and powerful tattooed holy man as well….there is something about a tattooed man in the kitchen that butters my buns Just ask my wonderfullly tattooed hubby.

403

Left Coast Connie On Wednesday, January 7 at 1:59 pm

I made these wonderful little cakes the other evening along with the Fiery Orange Prawns over tossed greens for dinner. Drizzled the reduced Orange sauce over the greens…Yumm-E! My Sawmill man loved it. I think they will be perfect as well alongside Rack of Lamb or Chops but substitute the cheese blend for Feta Cheese and add a little Rosemary & Thyme too. Some Tzatziki on the side…I am going to try them this way tonite instead of Spanakopita’s. Can’t wait…

404

Chris Hendrie On Sunday, January 18 at 3:52 pm

Hi – I’m from Scotland and came across this recipe via StumbleUpon. Just tried it this evening for the first time and it worked a treat – thanks!

Just one thing… we call zucchini ‘courgette.’

Cheers. x

405

karen in AK On Friday, January 23 at 1:20 pm

I made these last night. I am not a zuke fan. Nor are my veggie-fearing husband and my suspicious toddler. These were fabulous. Husband ate TWO. Daughter gobbled hers down, thrilled that she was allowed to eat another bite. I savored every bit of mine. What a fabulous treat! Thank you so much, I am already looking forward to making these again.

406

kat On Wednesday, January 28 at 5:58 pm

Those look delish! I make Zucchini cakes all the time and everyone loves them. Here in Maryland crabcakes are really popular but i make a mock-crabcake with zucchini instead. Only I don’t use cheese or garlic. I use mayo and a little mustard and plenty of Old Bay. YUMMY!!!!

I’ve been following you off and on for a year and now that i have time to blog again, I gotta tell you, you are just one of my faves! Your cooking and your baby steps to try and be transparent. honestly you’re just the best.

409

Tracy On Tuesday, February 17 at 3:03 am

Oh my!! We just had these for supper! A major new favorite. I’m in Australia where February is high summer, and zucchinis feel very much at home….we’ve had hundreds. I mixed the regular greenies with a yellow and a little white one. Fab!! This one goes into high rotation, baby!

410

T in Oklahoma City On Thursday, March 5 at 3:45 pm

I’m new here — checking out the recipe index. Have grand plans to plant squash & zuch simply for the gorgeous flowers that bloom with the plants and now look forward to making this recipe!
I’m giggling here at my desk over all the people that are confused by the tattooed man arms in Ree’s kitchen! ahhaha. (yes they are mildly distracting … in the best way)

Karen On Sunday, April 12 at 7:26 pm

I’m betting those tatoos come from those super thin, skin tight shirts that look very much like the real thing. Lots of folks who ride motorcycles buy them in cycle shops.

413

Caro On Thursday, April 23 at 11:06 am

Ya, here comes comment number 401! First time EVER that I’ve made something following an ‘internet recipe’. This one totally inspired me – zucc, cheese, pepper – classic combo! LOVED THEM. Now I’m going to go and eat up the rest…. THX PW!

414

DianeM On Monday, May 25 at 4:56 pm

I made Ryan’s Zucchini Cakes tonight and served with a little Ranch Dressing for dipping. Also made oven-baked breaded chicken breasts and had some whole kernel corn. Awesome meal.
Thanks for the zucchini cakes recipe, Ryan…it’s great!!

I made these last night for dinner and they were awesome! I think I might make them again tonight…

420

ceedeedee On Sunday, August 9 at 10:46 pm

Just finished making these, as I’ve been loading the recipe and thinking about it over and over. I learned my lesson about reading all the comments first. We ended up with the same ‘stuck mess’ as a few others had. I’m a beginner cook, so I became a tad frustrated. We ended up pulling out a non-stick pan, and the cakes started browning up almost instantly. They turned out pretty good, but I think we added too much cheese. We will try them again for sure, as I have a feeling zukes are headed my way in the next couple weeks.
Thanks much Ryan and Ree!

I did not have any zucchini when I read the recipe but I desperately wanted to eat the cakes. I did have an abundance of broccoli slaw so I tried the cakes with about two or maybe it was three big handfulls of slaw instead of the zucchini. And it was fantastic. I still have more slaw and will make it again, and agin, and again…..
Next time I might try carrots

422

Shab On Sunday, February 21 at 5:02 pm

I have made these 3 times now and everyone loves them! I serve them with Trader Joe’s Tzatziki Creamy Garlic and Cucumber dip… you can make it yourself as well: Yogurt, Garlic, Cucumbers, Salt, Peper, & Mint. Its delecious!!

Saturday, April 4: Freezer Fundamentals! While ranch work is going on outside, freezer work is going on inside! I share four more of my favorite freezer basics, which can be made into a whole bunch of different meals.